Djokovic reaches Miami final to close on 100th title

Novak Djokovic won the Miami Open title for the first time since 2016 and won the tournament for the first time since then.

In the opening game, Dimitrov broke Djokovic, but the Serb, who had been coached by Andy Murray in Britain, reacted.

Djokovic, 37, won the first set by winning five straight games.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion took advantage of Dimitrov’s shaky second set to advance 6-2, 6-3.

Djokovic told Sky Sports, “It feels great to reach the final.”

“I feel just as good as I did before the Olympics,” he said.

For the oldest ATP Masters 1, 000 semi-final in history, 14th seed Dimitrov, 33, had a good start in windy conditions.

The elegant Serb hit his stride and cruised to the first set after Djokovic’s serve failed to capitalize on the first game.

The Bulgarian started the second set slowly after a fan was kicked out after saying something that irritated Dimitrov.

Djokovic was just too good, despite Dimitrov’s three service victories as the beaten finalist last year.

The 32-year-old opponent only committed five unforced errors, according to the six-time Miami Open champion.

In the final period of the match, Djokovic noted that there were a few tight games.

He missed a few forehands in the previous game, and I found some really good serves with new balls in the final one. It was 4-2, 30- 30, and he was 4-2.

These were challenging circumstances. Very swirly . The wind had a lot of change, but it wasn’t consistent. Finding the ball’s control is difficult.

Because he’s a clean hitter, I tried to force him to play in these circumstances. If I gave him an extra shot, I already knew he would struggle. More than I did, he had a harder time with the first serve.

The fourth seed is the oldest semi-finalist and oldest ATP Masters 1, 000 finalist in history, 37 years and 10 months old.

In the Sunday final, he will face either American Taylor Fritz or Czech Jakub Mensik, who is unseeded. On Friday, they play their semi-final match.